JZA70 Single Turbo Build

[cbutler]

I’ve been putting off doing a build thread for a while, but I figured its about time so I’ll start with a brief history

I’ve always been a big Supra fan. This probably stemmed from my Dad who bought a silver MKII out of the showroom back in ’85 which he always raved about. After I got my license I bought a white 88 NA, but unfortunately there were some major frame problems with the car (there was actually a tear in the frame with an axe head wedged in there and covered up with electrical tape)! So after some court dates and repairs this car was sold (its actually a very long story, but I don’t really want to get into that) I drove an 85’ Celica for a while through high school which treated me well, but after she started getting tired it was time for an upgrade.

I always wanted a JZA70, so I started looking on line and learning the importing process (JDM cars were much less available in Canada back in 06 than they are now)! I got a small exporting company in Japan working for me and after bidding on a few different cars I was able to find my car.


It was slightly nerve wracking wiring a bunch of money to Japan with no written agreement or anything of the like, but sometimes you have to just trust I suppose. A few months and some paperwork later the car arrived on Vancouver’s shores. I got the car through the federal inspection in Vancouver with no problems and then had it trucked halfway across the country to my driveway! Unfortunately I was working up in Northern B.C. at this time so I had to wait a few more months until I actually saw the car. It was the middle of winter though so it wasn’t quite so hard.


My two roommates also went through the process at around the same time. Here is a couple pics of us with the new cars. 1990 Supra, 1990 GTR, 1991 850

 

[cbutler]

Backing up a bit, I had to get the car through the provincial inspection first. The car was actually in really great shape cosmetically and mechanically so after doing ball joints I was good to go. When I got the car the modifications were as follows:
Lowered with Bilstein coilovers, Katchimoto 3” cat back exhaust, Blitz BOV, HKS turbo timer, Circlar GTR 17” rims with Bridgestone rubber
So pretty stock. I bought an intake shortly after and then left her alone for a little while.


The next summer I put on an HKS downpipe to let it breathe a bit and put on a manual boost controller from dr jonez and cranked up the boost to 14psi. I added an A-pillar pod and got a boost and oil pressure gauge from Autometer. I also put in the short shift kit from Nashman, but unfortunately it snapped after a couple of months so back to the truck shifter. I also had to get my PS pump rebuilt by Aaron around this time.

Back into storage for the winter with lots of time to read Supramania to figure out what I wanted to do when the snow melted...
I was taking some long road trips for a camp job the next summer and at one point I blew out a tire so I took the opportunity to put on some Yokohama S-drive tires (275/40-17 rear, 235/45-17 front) . These were a huge improvement for grip and looks of course. I also found a good deal on an Apexi Neo, so I put this in along with an innovate motorsports LC-1 wideband and leaned er out a bit. I wired in a HKS SLD to get rid of the 180 kph speed limiter while I had the ECU out.

I also got a test pipe made up to remove the cat restriction. I took it to the dyno last fall and ran around 280 whp (dyno graph to come). At the dyno I noticed the turbos were starting to smoke a bit. I’m sure the car could have kept running strong for a while, but it was inevitable and I was kind of ancy to go single since I had just bought a house and finally had a garage to work in. So I went shopping at Driftmotion and bought the 60-1 kit with a .58 A/R. Most people were recommending the .70, but I think the best thing about the stock 1jz was its quick spooling twins and low end throttle response, so I was more concerned about that than making a few more hp on the dyno. I also ordered the 24” x 9” x 3” intercooler and universal 2.5” piping kit, and a Walbro. Oh yeah, I had bought some JDM 440’s a while back too off another member.

 

[cbutler]

A couple weeks later Christmas came early! (I was too excited to remember to take any good pictures of everything)






I started with the injectors which were kind of a pain in the ass without taking off anything (which in retrospect maybe I should have done to make my life easier). I dropped the tank and wired in the Walbro and put everything back in place. It fired up good and was running very rich at my previous fuel settings as expected so everything seemed to work out. I took it for spin and everything seemed to run perfectly. I was actually surprised about the Walbro not being very loud at all as i’ve heard numerous times. Maybe that comes with time??

 

[cbutler]

Next was the fun part..., taking out the stock twins. For the most part this wasn’t all that bad, especially since I didn’t have any time constraints (snow is now on the ground), but some of those manifold bolts were pretty ridiculous and took some unorthodox ratchet extensions and hand contortions. I also could have used an extra hand at certain times but patience and persistence always prevails with things like this and alas, the twins were out.

 

[cbutler]

The engine bay was pretty gross from 20 years of road grit etc., so I got some degreaser and spent some time cleaning everything up.




I fitted everything up to check clearances. I cut a fair bit off the intake to make it fit, and cut my oil drain line to length.

 

[xzeror]

wow your car is really nice man keep updating us :love:

 

[cbutler]

Next I removed the intercooler and installed the new one. I could have fit it in without trimming the hood latch support bracket, but to get it where I wanted it I ended up doing a little trimming. I ran the hot side intercooler piping down beneath the headlight. The cold side I found difficult with the universal piping kit. I ended up coming off the intercooler with a 90’ coupling (which I was trying to avoid) and then straight up. I actually cut one of the 180 mandrel bent pipes in half to make up the last section going into the TB. Maybe in the future I will relocate the battery and run it up through there, but I didn’t really want to at this time.


I bought some silicone tubing and replaced all of the hard and cracked vacuum and coolant lines and the main radiator hoses mostly just for appearance.


I decided I better get an oil catch can so I put in another order with Driftmotion and mounted it up. I think I’m going to get some baffles made up to direct the airflow around the catch can to get some more surface area and retention time. The way its sitting right now the gas isn’t going to have much contact with the inner surfaces.


So that’s pretty much where I’m at right now. With the right hand drive the steering column interferes with the external wastegate piping that came with the kit (as I knew when I bought the kit), so I have to get some pipes fabbed up to make that work. I also need to get a nipple welded on to the intercooler piping so I can hook up my BOV.
Other than that I plan on flushing out the cooling system and replacing the thermostat and I also want to put a filter on it. The coolant didn’t look that great when i was emptying it out and it is not very old at all since I replaced the radiator a year or so ago so I think a filter will help me get my cooling system clean and keep it that way.

 

[dubsupra209]

damn shes amazing great car keep up the good work....

 

[Sam]

Whoa! This is crazy, you and I have almost the exact same car! And we imported around the same time, 2006.

Very nice car man! I really like your rims. My Supra is a 1991 JZA70 R. Our upgrade list are freakishly identical, let me show you:

-440cc injectors
-Driftmotion 60-1 / .70AR
-Driftmotion "1JZ intercooler"
-Driftmotion hardpipe intake kit
-Blitz Access ECU
-HKS Timing gears
-Apexi SAFC II
-Walbro 255lph
-CP pistons
-Brian Crower 264 cams with beefed up BC springs and retainers
-HKS BOV (mounted with Driftmotion HKS mounting pipe)
-Tein adjustable suspension
-Sway bars (unsure of brand)
-Horn from an '81 Impala (don't like Japanese horns)

I am very interested to see how much much power you make, since we're pretty much samzies. My car is still under the knife and I won't be able to get it dyno'd until spring or summer.
Also, what did you do about the Driftmotion turbo manifold being designed for a LHD vehicle? Apparently the wastegate piping gets in the way of the steering column. Driftmotion simply told me to have a muffler shop relocate it. Is that what you did/going to do?

 

[cbutler]

Whoa! This is crazy, you and I have almost the exact same car! And we imported around the same time, 2006.

Very nice car man! I really like your rims. My Supra is a 1991 JZA70 R. Our upgrade list are freakishly identical, let me show you:

-440cc injectors
-Driftmotion 60-1 / .70AR
-Driftmotion "1JZ intercooler"
-Driftmotion hardpipe intake kit
-Blitz Access ECU
-HKS Timing gears
-Apexi SAFC II
-Walbro 255lph
-CP pistons
-Brian Crower 264 cams with beefed up BC springs and retainers
-HKS BOV (mounted with Driftmotion HKS mounting pipe)
-Tein adjustable suspension
-Sway bars (unsure of brand)
-Horn from an '81 Impala (don't like Japanese horns)

I am very interested to see how much much power you make, since we're pretty much samzies. My car is still under the knife and I won't be able to get it dyno'd until spring or summer.
Also, what did you do about the Driftmotion turbo manifold being designed for a LHD vehicle? Apparently the wastegate piping gets in the way of the steering column. Driftmotion simply told me to have a muffler shop relocate it. Is that what you did/going to do?

That is crazy! Are you in Regina too?
I would definately like to get some 264's down the road too, how are you liking them? For the wastegate piping, I mocked up some piping using cardboard tube and carpenter's glue. Still waiting to get it fabbed up. The piping itself does not interfere with the steering column but there is not enough clearance for the wastegate, so I am going to extend it back towards the firewall a bit. to make it work.

 

[Sam]

That is crazy! Are you in Regina too?
I would definately like to get some 264's down the road too, how are you liking them? For the wastegate piping, I mocked up some piping using cardboard tube and carpenter's glue. Still waiting to get it fabbed up. The piping itself does not interfere with the steering column but there is not enough clearance for the wastegate, so I am going to extend it back towards the firewall a bit. to make it work.

No, I live in Melfort. It's about 3 hours north east of Regina, somewhere around there.

You know, I only had the cams in my car for about 2 weeks, then my engine went. And the shop who put them in didn't know didely squat. They never changed out any of my shims and just left them all in place. Some of them were out by quite a bit, so my car made the same amount of power due to inefficiency issues with the cams. And to top it off, when I called to complain, the mechanic tried to tell me 1JZs have hydraulic lifters! Simply amazing... There's about 3 more paragraphs to go with this story (some of it is linked to why a couple of my pistons melted...but that part is mostly my own fault.)

So my car has been in a (reputable) repair shop for over six months now. Doing the full engine rebuild with a slue of Driftmotion items. Should all be done in time for Spring.

 

[Sam]

Any updates?

 

[cbutler]

Made some baffles today for my oil catch can out of some tin and an aluminum filter for a stove fan.






I took off the thermostat too and am waiting for a new one to show up in the mail. I also ordered a new 89 Mustang GT screw in style O2 sensor to work with the downpipe.

 

[cbutler]

Haven't updated this in an while but I am happy to say that everything is put back together and the car is now running. I received my new O2 sensor and spliced that in. Hooked up the downpipe which required me to get the torch out and a C-clamp and carefully bend back the one plugged off coolant line for the stock twins. I also had to get a nipple TIG welded on to my intercooler piping for my BOV which turned out very nicely.
I did a little trial and error cutting and welding (luckily I have a friend with a MIG) to get the wastegate to clear the steering column and after a couple tries tack welding it in place we finally got it right!


After torqueing everything down (and realizing I needed a new battery) it was time to start er up for the first time with the new lung. I had one coolant leak, but other than that everything seemed to be all good. It was idling a little rough but after pulling a little fuel on the low throttle map it seemed to smooth out nicely. I also put new hood struts on at this point so no more getting hit in the back of the head with the hood!

Now the only thing left to do is get a custom midpipe made to connect my downpipe to the rest of the exhaust, although it sounds pretty mean right now! I can't wait to take it for a drive but have to wait until a little more snow melts before that will happen.

 

[loki2043]

Looking good!

 

[cbutler]

Thanks loki!
Took it for a good spin this weekend. This turbo is going to be fun for sure! I'm running about 12 psi boost and it pulls hard after about 3K. I'm still waiting on some flanges to finish up the midpipe so its loud as hell right now. Lots of looks haha but I had to take it for a test drive anyways. I pulled about 15% fuel across the board to get the A/R's at about 11:1 but it could still use some fine tuning. Every once in a while it wants to idle very low also but this happened from time to time last year too so I'm not sure if maybe its a problem with the IACV or what.
Next on my wish list is a fuel pressure regulator and maybe cams, but not sure if I will get to that this summer.

 

[cbutler]

Unfortunately the supra's back in the garage with a blown tire. I was out doing some tuning and cranked the boost up to about 15psi but right when I had everything dialed in and was heading home my rear tire blew out. There's a pretty big tear in the tire so I don't know if I hit something on the road or what. Luckily the tires didn't have too much life left anyways. I ordered some new 275/40/17 yokohama S.Drives from discount tire direct so should be back on the road in about a week.

As an update from previous posts I made my custom midpipe a month or so ago so now I can hear all the music from the new turbo, bov, and the open wastegate! The open wastegate is very addicting! Everything sounds fairly mild mannered until that opens up and then she just screams.

 

[cbutler]

Bought an aeromotive fuel pressure regulator and got it put on last weekend. Put my fuel pressure back up to the stock 42psi and now I can run to about 17psi without hitting fuel cut. Still have to do some tuning though and I'm hoping I can get to the dyno in the next few weeks.

 

[cbutler]

AFPR installed

 

[87M-GTE]

Awesome JZA70 man!
I want one!!!!

Keep up the good work!

Sam